Are Suzuki race favourites? Martin, Bastianini, Marquez believe so

Are Suzuki facing the most pressure ahead of tomorrow's opening MotoGP race of 2022? Jorge Martin, Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez believe so. 

Heading into qualifying as the first and third quickest riders on combined times, Alex Rins and Joan Mir had a very disappointing Q2 after finishing eighth (Mir) and tenth (Rins).

While a sub-par qualifying performance is nothing new from Suzuki, the Japanese manufacturer had seemingly made considerable steps forward with their one lap pace thanks to impressive gains made to their 2022 engine. 

But winning tomorrow’s race is likely to be a much tougher challenge despite both riders having the best long run pace in practice.

Or at least that’s what we’ve come to expect when riders start that far down, however, today’s front row trio for the Qatar MotoGP still believe Suzuki are the favourites. 

Speaking during the post-qualifying press conference, Martin, Bastianini and Marquez all shared their thoughts on who the strongest team/riders are thus far.

Martin: "I bet on Rins and Mir because I feel they are the strongest ones. I hope to be there and fight with them. 

"I feel like Honda and Suzuki did a great step. But here we are saying all the same; I think Suzuki has been very strong. They have more power for sure, but let’s see because before they used to save the tyre and manage really well at the end of the race. 

"Now with more power it’s not so easy. Let’s see how they manage the power at the end of the race. Maybe they will struggle more with this part. If not then it seems like they have a perfect bike."

Bastianini: "I think the Suzuki riders are so fast. Also with the used tyre. Always in this track more riders are competitive. Suzuki has a lot of corner speed and we (Ducati) can brake so late. 

"Also, tomorrow will depend on the conditions of the track. For the moment it has changed a lot from the morning to the afternoon and this can be critical."

Marquez: "If we check FP2, FP3 then both the Suzuki riders. In FP4, Ducati riders did a step, especially Zarco. But Quartararo too. He is starting far but he has a good pace. 

"But overall, over the whole weekend I would say both Suzuki riders. We are at one of the more special tracks on the calendar so it’s too early to say who has the best bike. 

"I never agree with ‘who has the best bike or which is the bike’. I mean, it’s a compromise between bike, team and rider. 

"Then if you find a good compromise you will be fast in all race tracks. The key point is to suffer in a good way when you need to suffer and be there. Then in your strong races try to win."